Govt to give centre of excellence status to FTII

PTI

New Delhi, 03 July 2011: Government will table a bill in Parliament granting centre of excellence status to Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), which will enable it to enjoy the privileges of a University. The status would also facilitate students to pursue higher studies and research both in India and abroad, I&B Minister Ambika Soni said on Saturday.

 

The move will also enable the FTII to draw a road map to address the growing needs of media and entertainment industry, she said while addressing a Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting at Pune on Saturday. According to a Ministry statement, a group of experts have already prepared a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the proposed upgradation of the FTII.

 

The DPR broadly contains recommendations for revitalisation of the courses being offered by the institute. It also envisages enhancing the infrastructure of the institute. The DPR will be considered by the Governing Council of the Institute which is meeting on July 6, the Miniser said, adding, it could also constitute the Vision Statement of the institute.

 

 

Addressing the consultative committee, Soni said the Planning Commission has recently approved Rs 660-crore allocation for setting up of National Film Heritage Mission (NFHM).

 

The mission envisages digitisation of film heritage of the country which has been preserved by bodies such as National Film Archives of India (NFAI), National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), Films Division (FD), Directorate of Film Festival (DFF) and Children Film Society of India (CFSI).

 

During the discussions, the members were also of the view that FTII should reach out to remote areas to tap talents available there. For this purpose, it was proposed to hold mobile short term courses in critical aspects of film making.

 

Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, S Jagatrakshakan, MPs Shyam Benegal, Shatrughan Sinha, Bharat Kumar Raut, Anup Kumar Saha, Anil Madhav Dave, Tapas Paul, Ranee Narah, M P Achutan and Md. Adeeb were present.